While they were in Raleigh this weekend, several members of the women's track team earned themselves a trip to Pennsylvania later in the season.
At the Raleigh Relays, the Blue Devils who make up the 4x1500-meter and 4x800-meter relay teams qualified for the Penn Relays on Apr. 23-25, one of the largest track meets in the world.
On Friday, the 4x1500 team also established a new school record of 18:44.96, easily breaking the 1996 record of 18:48.71. Colette Gurtler, a member of that 1996 team, led off the race and was followed by Kim Voyticky. Usually a half-miler, Voyticky turned in the fastest split time of the group, 4:32.00.
Voyticky then passed the baton to Kristin Faraguna, who answered doubts about previous leg injuries with her 4:52.10 split time.
"The third leg was the one we were most anxious about," coach Norm Ogilve said. "Kristin really overcame problems with her legs, and she was not able to train the way she should. She has the reputation of being a very gutsy competitor."
When Megan Sullivan took over for the anchor leg, the runners were spaced out so that she no longer had other competitors nearby to pace herself. However, by the closest margin she got the job done, squeaking in under the Penn Relays time of 18:45.0 by four-hundredths of a second.
The Penn Relays is an important benchmark of success for the 4x1500 because that race is not included in the ECACs.
Duke finished fifth in the 4x1500, an indication of the strength of the field. In addition to the college teams, professional runners, including about a dozen Olympians, also competed at the meet.
In the 4x800, Duke's 9:08.57 time was well under the Penn Relay qualifying time of 9:15.0. The team of Gurtler, Sullivan, Kortney Gallo and Voyticky finished fifth overall.
The 4x200 team of Yvonne Ayew, Lauren Banks, Tara Cyre and Kristin Sbarra set the second-lowest time in school history at 1:45.31.
In the hammer throw on Saturday, Maria Monge narrowly missed qualifying for the Penn Relays. This is the first year that women have competed in the event and in only her third time competing, Monge threw the hammer 38.88 meters, within two meters of the qualifying distance.
In the pole vault, Jillian Schwartz cleared an impressive 8' 6 1/2'' in just her second time competing. Schwartz has a strong gymnastics background, which is beneficial for the pole vault, but had never tried the event before this year, when it became sanctioned by the NCAA.
Lisa Bell also vaulted 8' 6 1/2'', coming down from the 9' 4'', that she cleared at Florida State last weekend.
The Blue Devils compete next weekend in their only home meet of the year, the Duke Invitational. Like the Raleigh Relays, the Invitational will feature several Olympians in addition to the collegiate teams.
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